Jinchuriki's Pain
by Panduh-Fox-love
Summary: He's so happy all the time...when did this happen? Why couldn't I see the signs? Why didn't I care enough to look deeper than the villagers did? There's more to him damn it! More than just a fox! More than just a demon! you can't take him...he's my light-


Naruto came to the academy early that morning. He had woken up at the crack of dawn, ate some ramen and slung his suspiciously heavy-looking bag over his shoulder. As the first people entered the classroom, they looked over to see the blond already fast asleep, drooling slightly on the desk. Almost every single one sighed and shook their heads slightly, but only when Sasuke entered did he see the real danger. Naruto here? Early? Something was definitely up.

As the raven made his way to his seat, his dark eyes slid around the room, looking for anything out of the ordinary…his eye twitched as it landed on the teacher's chair. All he could see was a small, almost invisible string, and as he followed it up to the ceiling, he noticed the tile slightly off. The raven sighed at the dobe's stupid, obvious attempt.

The bell rang as Iruka stepped calmly into the room. Naruto jerked up, blinking wearily around the room before realizing where he was. He smiled lopsidedly at Iruka as the man walked to his chair. The boy pulled down his black and red cap nervously, his yellow hair sticking out under the brim. Sasuke rolled his eyes as Iruka set the papers he was so intently looking at down on his desk. The teacher then looked at the string, back to Naruto, and then followed the string up to the ceiling.

"Really, Naruto?" the class turned around, looking at the boy sitting in the back. Everyone was severely confused except for Naruto, with a dumb smile on his face, Sasuke who was just staring out the window, and Iruka. "I expected something better, even from you." He sighed and pulled on the string, watching to find out what would have fallen on him this time. To his surprise, a bucket tipped over right above his chair, but nothing came out. There was a moment of silence. "What the-"

There was a loud boom as another bucket, right where Iruka was standing tipped over and drenched him with feathers covered in glue. Naruto grinned happily, glad that he fell for it.

"A ninja must always see past deception!" He laughed, pumping his hand up into the air. For a second, a small smile appeared on Iruka's face, to be quickly wiped away by a mask of "mad teacher"

The class giggled at the sight of Iruka, looking like a chicken. "I'm calling Mizuki."

"A-ah!" Naruto jumped up. "N-no way Iruka! I-"

"Calm down Naruto, It's not for you. He's taking over the class while you and_ I_ go to the Hokage's office." Sasuke looked to Naruto with one eye-brow raised. Naruto noticed and sat down hurriedly with a small blush over his face_. Oops,_ he thought. He worked so hard to make sure no-one knew who his guardian was, on orders from the hokage. Even if one person from the class knew, if they told their parents and they told their friends…it would cause Mizuki trouble and Naruto did NOT want to make Mizuki more angry than he already was.

Iruka got off the phone and picked a feather off of him irritably. "Class I expect you to behave, Naruto come with me." The blond leaped up from his desk and grabbed his bag. Slinging it over one shoulder, he hurried after Iruka out of the class room. The blond scratched his head nervously as he noticed Mizuki walk down the hall towards the classroom.

"M-Mizuki-sama." Naruto bowed lowly as the man came up to him.

"Naruto." The man said sternly. He looked to Iruka and then gave a small smile to Naruto, sighing. "Naruto-kun, it's Mizuki-sensei in school, okay?" He ruffled the blonde's hair and continued down the hall. As Iruka and Naruto proceeded down the hall, the boy turned and looked to Mizuki, only to see the man staring at him with cold, angry eyes. He flinched and moved closer to Iruka.

Iruka was more of a father to him than anyone had ever been, including all the orphanages and Mizuki-sama. In fact, he was pretty sure the man didn't even mind that he didn't add a 'sensei' to the end of his name. Iruka took him to eat Ramen a lot, and although the teacher didn't know it; that had probably saved his life. Mizuki-sama gave him barely enough allowance to live on, though thankfully he hadn't had to find out, on account of Iruka always feeding him. Only a couple times had he been hungry enough to search through the garbage, but whenever he got weak in class because of not enough food, Iruka always seemed to know. And then, whalla! Ramen time.

Iruka noticed Naruto's movement closer, and gave him a sad smile. He then turned to his old best friend, still glaring at the back of Naruto. Mizuki didn't notice, but Iruka stared at him with suspicion and hate in his eyes. He knew something was going on, but he had no grounds to tell the hokage, or take Naruto in on his own. He put his arm on the small boys shoulder, still surprised by the feeling of his skinny bones underneath his puffy black and orange-lined jacket. No-one could tell, but he knew when the boy didn't get enough to eat. Especially when he came to school smelling like garbage. It was probably the reason he was still so small.

"Hey, Iruka-san?" Naruto's voice echoed through the empty hallway as they took a shortcut to the Hokage's place. He put a hand on his stomach, trying to get it to stop eating itself.

"Yes Naruto-kun?"

"I know I dumped feathers on you and everything, but can we go eat some ramen after I get punished by hokage-sama?" He pulled down the sleeves of his jacket nervously. He actually has a lot of nervous habits, surprisingly.

Iruka laughed, and the blond looked up at him, surprised. "Don't I always?" Naruto nodded his head vigorously. "But you have to help me get this,_ stuff_ off me, okay?"

"Of course Iruka-san!" The blond pulled out of his arm and grabbed his hand. He started to pull him faster down the hall. "Come-on, Iruka! Let's go I'll race ya!" The teacher shook his head, surprised by the boy's endless energy. Even in class, he didn't give up; he just kept on going until he collapsed.

"Alright then." The boy stopped, and tensed. "Ready?"

"Set!" He jumped from leg to leg, excited for the ramen in his future.

"Go!"

The hokage sighed and straightened his huge hat. He just got a message from Mizuki, saying that Iruka called him into class to be a sub, on account of Naruto's pranks. He wondered what the boy did this time, but he guaranteed he wouldn't have to wait long to find out. Soon, the two chakra signatures where moving towards the entrance at a very high speed. The hokage took a deep breath in preparation, and lifted his tea to his mouth.

Crash! The door slammed open as Naruto slammed into it and then onto the ground in the Hokage's office. His hat flew off, landing in a corner as he lay sprawled on the ground. Naruto's red, furry ears perked up curiously above his blond hair, turning to a deep orange at the roots. Iruka came soon after Naruto fell into the room, covered in feathers. This is what made the Hokage spit out his tea in surprise.

Iruka smiled and bowed. "I apologize hokage-sama, Naruto wanted to race and-"

The boy sat up on the ground, his legs at his hips and his hands pushing his up between his knees. "Has anyone seen my hat?" He scratched his ears and looked around. He wondered if it had fallen off while they were running, but as long as no-one his age saw his ears, it wouldn't matter. And after all, they were all in school right now.

The hokage wiped tea from his chin and retrieved the hat from where it had fallen. He squatted next to the blond boy and put the hat snuggly on his head, giving him a small smile. Naruto's bright blue eyes pierced his with warmth that immediately began to dissolve the Hokage's anger. He stood and looked at Iruka. "Explain."

"Hokage-sama. Naruto set a trap for me."

"And you fell for it?"

"Actually…" He looked to where the boy was still sitting, looking extremely proud of himself. "I didn't, but then I did."

"Excuse me?"

"The trap he set was really obvious, so I pulled the string to find out what would happen, which he knew I would do." He paused again. "But then another trap was sprung right where I was standing."

The hokage sighed. "Naruto what are we going to do with you?"

The fox-boy smiled. "Forgive and Forget? You gotta admit that was one of my best, besides the face-painting…"

The old man went to sit down in his chair. "Hmm…While I am thinking of a punishment, how are you doing Naruto?" He asked sternly.

Naruto turned a deep red and looked to Iruka and back. "Isn't Mizuki-sama supposed to be here when I give my report?"

"Naruto." The hokage growled and the young blond bowed in response. When he faced him, the boy's face was completely serious.

"Everything is going fine, no one has found out about where I live, who dad was and the Kyuubi remains a secret."

"How are things at school?"

Iruka sighed and said nothing as Naruto blushed and lost his composure. "Well, uhhh, I don't think I'll pass this year…"

The hokage groaned. "Naruto! Do I have to set you up with a tutor?" the blond shook his head. "Maybe I should…Every Jinchuriki in the land is top in their class…and then there's you." He messaged his temple. "You would make a great ninja Naruto, just like your dad."

The blonde smiled. "And I'll be hokage like him too!" He looked fondly out the window where his face was, watching over him. Iruka picked another feather off him.

"Hokage-sama? I can set Naruto up with a Tutor."

"Iruka-san you can be my tutor!" He jumped up.

Both men shook their heads. "I'm sorry Naruto-kun." Iruka said. "I have a lot of work to do."

"Who do you propose? Someone who will be able to drag Naruto to training everyday…"

"I train by myself!"

"I do have a student in mind; he's the top of the class…"

"Maybe when Jiraiya comes back we can have him.."

Naruto jumped in between the two adults. "Listen to me!" His tail twitched angrily as it slipped out of his pants.

"Naruto." Iruka growled. "be more careful." He mentioned to the boy's red furry tail.

Said tail flicked in annoyance. "No! You guys are talking without me!"

"Sasuke Uchiha will be your tutor."

"NO! NO WAY IN THE WORLD-"

"Naruto put your tail away I'm calling him from class now."

"-POMPUS PRICK OF A-"

"You need to be careful during your tutoring, I know you're used to being able to take off your hat and be yourself but-"

"-EVER EVER HE'S SUCH A-"

"NARUTO SHUT UP!" The boy looked up to his teacher in awe. Iruka sighed and turned the boy around abruptly. He folded his arms and grumbled as Iruka shoved his tail back into his pants. "Now don't move it!"

"But it's hard! And uncomfortable!" He wined, not noticing how the hokage flinched at the words.

"Naruto." He turned to look at the Hokage. "I am sorry, you know. For you to have to do this every day, to cover up whom you really are. But it is for the best. Until the people at your school get to know you, you can't…reveal who you are in fear that they may reject you, like the rest of the village."

"Hokage-sama!" Naruto leapt and smiled hugely.

"What is it?"

"One: I'm glad you care!" His bright smile almost put tears in the Hokage's eyes as he nodded. "Two: there's a person, about my age and probably male, listening into our conversation!"

The hokage gasped and the Anbu stationed around the office immediately pounced towards where Naruto was pointing. A moment later, they pulled a struggling Sasuke through the door.

**Sasuke POV***

Wow that was incredibly hard, but still…I'm surprised I was able to do it. I sat in the dark, outside a wall connected to the Hokage's office. A bird arrived not too long ago to send me here and I, being smart and awesome, thought 'hey why don't I come early and eavesdrop.' I WAS curious about what dobe and Iruka were talking to the Hokage about to make them summon ME.

And then I just got confused. The first words I heard-

"-for the best. Until the people at your school get to know you, you can't…reveal who you are in fear that they may reject you, like the rest of the village." I was very confused. Who exactly WAS Naruto? He was just an idiot! An orphan…just like me. But still, he was just a dobe. Although…I thought about what the hokage said.

'may reject you, like the rest of the village.' I HAD heard them talking, the villagers. Saying bad things about the dobe. But still…how many of them hated Naruto? And why? I shook my head. He's nothing special! What does he have to hide?

I flinched as I heard the dobe's happy voice, saying how it made him happy that the hokage cared about him. Then my eyes widened in shock as he gave away I was here. How did he- I had no time to think, I started to run. But of course, the Anbu caught up to me before I could get away. I still put up a fight, mostly because of how easily the dobe sensed me. But he's nothing special! Right…?

**General POV***

Sasuke slumped in the Anbus arms as they pulled him into the Hokage's office. The hokage and Iruka was looking at him with spite, waiting for the raven to explode at Naruto for being a monster. They were extremely protective of the boy, and the raven however, had no idea why they were looking at him like that.

"G-get off me." He gave his famous Uchiha glare to the Anbu, who said nothing but looked to the hokage. The hokage, in turn, looked to Naruto. The blond smiled at the Anbu.

"Neko-chan, Kuma-kun, please let him go." The cat and bear mask nodded and released Sasuke.

"Hai Kitsune-kun."

_What the fuck is going on here?_ Ran through Sasuke's head. So he said it out loud. "What the f-"

"What did you hear?" the hokage gave him a very serious look. He could almost feel the tension in the room.

He turned to Naruto. "Why did he call you Kitsune-kun?" The blond just blinked.

"What did you hear?" The hokage growled.

"Nothing!"

"You're lying." Hokage growled even more fiercely.

"Sasuke-kun!" Naruto pouted, sticking out his bottom lip cutely. "Come on! The sooner we get this over with the sooner I can go eat Ramen!" Sasuke blinked. "Pleeaassseee?"

The Uchiha's heat missed a beat. _Damn it,_ he thought. _Stop doing that…_Naruto always seemed to be the only one who could get him to talk. "Just something about the villagers not liking Dobe here."

Naruto laughed. "Good enough for me! Can we go now Hokage-sama?"

"Naruto? Are you sure? We could-"

Naruto bit his lip. He knew what the hokage was about to propose. Erasing his memory, like they did to…He shook his head. "No hokage-sama. Let's just go." The kitsune turned, grabbing onto Sasuke's sleeve and pulling him with. He was almost out the door, thinking he had gotten away when…

"NARUTO!" The blonde flinched and Sasuke just stared still confused. "Your punishment." The two boys turned. "Uchiha, you will be tutoring Naruto until the end test."

Naruto burst. "But that's only in two weeks!" Sasuke rolled his eyes. Why did_ he_ have to? That's more of a punishment to him then Naruto…

"Naruto you will do this." The blonde lowered his head.

"Hai."

Iruka walked up to him and straightened his cap lovingly. "It won't be that bad. And if you do, I promise to treat you to Ramen every other night." Naruto looked up, surprise in his eyes.

"Really?"

"Really." The blond smiled and grabbed hold of his sleeve now.

"Then let's go Dattebayo!" He began to pull and waved at the hokage. "bye hokage-sama!" the blond then grabbed Sasuke next. "Lets go eat Ramen together!"

Iruka sweat dropped. "Uh…Naruto he might not…"

"I don't want to come." Sasuke said sternly, despite the irresistible pout that was being put in his direction as they walked down the hall.

"Yes you do!" Sasuke sighed and 'hn'd, giving in and letting Naruto drag him along to Ichiraku Ramen.


End file.
